The Brewing Betrayal
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Harry happens to fall ill on his first day of the winter holidays. Will the Weasley twins be able to help him, or will they have to rely on the expertise of Professor Snape to cure him? Set in Harry's seventh Hogwarts year. AU, partly OOC, sick!Harry


**The ****Brewing Betrayal**

Harry sighed as he returned from the station in Hogsmeade, where his classmates and friends had just boarded the Hogwarts Express to return home for Christmas. It was his seventh year at Hogwarts, the war was over, and he intended to really enjoy his holidays. Apart from Harry, only the Weasley twins, who were absolving their seventh year together with Harry, and two third-years, Niamh and Therese, were going to stay in Gryffindor, and Headmistress McGonagall had already announced that they were allowed to visit Hogsmeade whenever they wanted.

By the time he climbed up the stairs back to the common room, intending to get a head start on his homework, he noticed that his stomach hurt a bit and decided to lie down for a while. '_I have to catch up with some sleep anyway_,' he mused as he scrambled into bed, drifting off to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

"Hey lazybones, wakey wakey," the twins' cheery voices pulled Harry out of his sleep several hours later.

"Oh, just let me sleep," Harry mumbled tiredly, realising that his stomach was still sore and his head exploded in pain as soon as he opened his eyes.

"It's dinner time, Harrykins..."

"...but we suggest having a party in the common room instead."

"We brought everything we need from the kitchens, and the two cute third-year girls are already waiting," the twins informed him, causing Harry to scramble out of bed and follow them into the common room.

The five students had much fun eating the delicacies, drinking butterbeer and listening to the twins' anecdotes from their joke shop.

"I just hope McGonagall won't show up because we're all missing dinner," Niamh said suddenly, anxiously glancing at the portrait hole. "She won't like us drinking butterbeer."

"She won't even notice. Before, she would have come and dragged us to the Great Hall by the ears, but since she became Headmistress, she has such a lot on her mind that she keeps forgetting about us," Fred explained, grinning mischievously.

"Well, I don't think it's official yet, but she soon won't be Head of Gryffindor anymore anyway," George added, smirking.

"Why?" Harry queried in surprise.

"Because we overheard her telling Snape that you'd be the new teacher for Transfiguration and Head of Gryffindor from September onwards," Fred said, throwing Harry an innocent look.

"Oh, wipe that guiltless look off your face, Fred; I didn't even agree to her suggestion yet," Harry replied, totally annoyed.

"You know, Harrykins, such things rarely remain a secret at Hogwarts," George laughed, "and don't tell us you won't accept her offer."

"We'll kill you if you don't take the post," Fred agreed. "We need you as our marketing contact person at Hogwarts."

Niamh and Therese laughed, while Harry groaned, suddenly noticing that his stomach became extremely upset. He quickly excused himself and dashed to the bathroom, just in time for his stomach to relief itself from its contents. '_Oh no, do I have to get sick on the first day of the holidays?_' he groaned inwardly as he brushed his teeth and slowly made his way back to the common room.

"Harry, are you all right?" Therese asked, throwing him a concerned look.

"Yes, I'm fine," Harry replied in a small voice, not wanting anyone to make a fuss about him. However, he couldn't prevent himself from throwing up several times more during their party and finally had to admit that he wasn't feeling too well.

"Shall we take you to Pomfrey?" the twins queried, standing on both sides of him.

Harry threw them a menacing glare. "If any of you, and I mean the two of you as well," he said to the third-years, "tells anyone about this, I'm going to drag you to Snape to use as potions ingredients. I'm going to bed. Good night."

"Good night, Harry," the four others echoed, watching Harry retreat to his dormitory in concern.

Back in his dormitory, Harry transfigured a tissue into a bucket, thinking, '_just in case_,' and placed it next to his bed. However, when he felt his stomach protest the next time, he noticed that it was going to release itself in both directions and hurriedly took the bucket with him to the bathroom. During the night, Harry had to visit the bathroom every thirty minutes. Back in his bed, he fell in a short slumber, until he had to get up and run again. '_I hope this stops soon_,' he mused, groaning, when he suddenly saw the twins stand in front of his bed.

"Harry, is there anything we can do for you?" George queried in concern.

"You need to drink as much as possible, but since we only have butterbeer in the common room, shall we go to the kitchen and fetch some water for you?" Fred offered gently.

"Yes please, if it's not too much of a hassle," Harry replied gratefully, feeling very thirsty.

The twins brought water and coke for him as well as a few bananas and pretzel sticks, making Harry drink small sips from his glass. "Don't drown; only take small sips. Mum always gives us coke and pretzel sticks when one of us gets the stomach flu, and it really helps," George explained as he re-filled the glass with a small amount of coke.

"I can't eat right now, only want to drink. Thanks a lot," Harry said gratefully, already drifting back to sleep for a few minutes.

HP

Early in the morning, the urge to run to the bathroom suddenly receded; however, Harry's stomach began to hurt again, and he developed a terrible headache. When he sat up to assess if he was able to get up, he felt completely dizzy, his ears felt very strange as if they were filled with cotton wool, and he noticed that he couldn't move his head as his neck was very sore as well. He slowly rubbed his eyes, hoping to be able to clear his vision. His surroundings became a bit clearer, but still everything remained slightly foggy.

"Maybe I should just stay in bed," he told the twins, who came to his bedside as soon as they noticed that he was awake. "On the other hand, it might be much warmer in the common room."

"It's definitely warmer in the common room. Lie down on the sofa in front of the fireplace," Fred suggested, while George leaned over Harry and placed an ice-cold hand on the younger boy's forehead.

"You have a fever, Harry. Are you sure that you don't want Pomfrey to look after you?" he asked in concern.

"Definitely," Harry replied firmly. "All right, I'll spend the day on the sofa." He picked up his school bag in case he would be able to begin with his homework and slowly stood up, glad that Fred steadied him.

"Fred, take his bag and the coke, and I'll carry his bed covers and pillow," George ordered his twin, before he held on to Harry's other arm to help him down to the common room.

The two girls were already waiting in the common room, observing in concern how the twins helped Harry to lie down on the sofa in front of the fireplace.

"Are you feeling any better?" Niamh asked softly.

Harry slightly shook his head, wincing at the pain the small movement caused. "I think I'm over the point of throwing up, but my stomach and my head hurt a lot," he added quietly, throwing George a grateful look as the boy gently tucked him in.

In the meantime, Therese had fetched a thermometer from the bathroom and motioned Harry to open his mouth.

"No, I don't want anything in my mouth," Harry groaned, causing the girl to sigh and turn to the twins.

"In that case, can one of you take his temperature under his armpit, please," she said, handing George the thermometer.

"Err, no, that's too cold," Harry mumbled, shivering violently as he felt George's cold hand touch his hot skin.

"I'm sorry, Harrykins, it was your choice," George replied, adjusting the cold instrument to the right position. "Thirty-eight point eight (101.8)," he announced a short while later, frowning.

"That's a bit high for the early morning. Shouldn't we call Madam Pomfrey?" Niamh asked worriedly.

"Don't you dare," Harry replied weakly but with an angry expression. "I'll just stay here and rest, and it'll be better tomorrow."

"Let's hope so, by goodness," Therese replied, looking at the others. "Should one of us stay here with him today?"

"No, I'm fine here," Harry replied impatiently. "I'm going to sleep some more." With that he turned around and closed his eyes, causing the others to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Harry drifted in and out of sleep, glad but still surprised that his Head of House didn't notice his absence and came looking for him, although he missed all meals. The four other Gryffindors spent the day in Hogsmeade and only returned to the common room after dinner, worriedly enquiring how he felt.

"Just about as I felt this morning," Harry replied, glad that he had been able to keep the bananas and the coke in, but wondering why his head and his neck still hurt so much.

"I'll go and fetch Professor McGonagall," Niamh announced after Therese took Harry's temperature that had climbed up to thirty-nine point eight (103.5) degrees.

"Feel free to go, but I won't be here when you come back, and you won't find me," Harry growled, throwing Therese a grateful look as she laid a wet towel over his forehead. "I'm sorry, I should return to the dormitory in order not to get all of you sick as well," he said weakly, trying to summon enough energy to get up.

"You will stay here overnight, so we can all take turns looking after you," Niamh said firmly, causing the others to nod their agreement.

Harry more or less slept through the night, frequently waking up from fever induced nightmares, only to drift back to sleep soon afterwards, unaware of the fact that always one of his housemates remained in the common room watching him during the whole night. However, in the morning, Harry didn't feel better at all, and his fever exceeded forty degrees.

"You're very irresponsible," Niamh told Harry. "You're getting worse by the hour. Do you want to spend Christmas in bed?"

"Oh, just leave me in peace," Harry mumbled. "I already feel much better apart from the headache, and I'll still be alive when you return in the evening. I'll be up and about tomorrow."

"Well, considering that tomorrow is Christmas day, Harry, we'll brew a fever reducer for you after breakfast," the twins told him. "Hang in for a moment; we'll be back as soon as we finish the potion."

"Okay, thank you," Harry replied gratefully as he once again tried to find a cool spot on his pillow.

HP

After breakfast, the twins hurried to the Potions classroom. Fortunately, they knew where they could find the recipe for the fever reducer and quickly gathered the necessary ingredients.

"If this doesn't bring his fever down, we have to do something," Fred said thoughtfully as he began to prepare the ingredients, while his brother prepared the cauldron.

"Maybe we should call Mum when we're at the shop later on. We can bring her to Hogwarts and let her check on Harry," George suggested.

"That's a good idea; at least we can tell her his symptoms and ask what we should do," Fred agreed.

During the next two hours, the twins concentrated on their work, completely unaware of the fact that the Potions Master stood behind them watching them brew diligently for more than thirty minutes. Only when George extinguished the flame under the cauldron, Snape chose to raise his voice.

"What can cause two Gryffindors to spend Christmas Eve in the Potions classroom brewing a fever reducing potion?" he sneered, knowing from the colour that the potion was brewed flawlessly.

"Err... It's for a friend, sir, sorry, sir," Fred replied hesitantly, while George fetched a few small phials to bottle the simmering potion.

"And who might be that friend?" Snape queried, recalling that he had only seen four Gryffindors at mealtimes during the last two days.

"It's for Harry, sir. He has quite a fever," George admitted, cringing under the teacher's stern glare.

With a flick of his wand Snape bottled the potion, before he queried in a slightly friendlier voice, "What exactly is ailing Mr. Potter? Maybe we need to take something else with us."

The twins quickly filled the Slytherin Head in about Harry's condition, causing the man to frown and fetch a few other phials, tucking them into his robe pockets. "Let's go," he told the twins and strode ahead, his robes dramatically billowing behind him.

Fred and George could hardly keep up with the man's fast pace. "We'll be in so much trouble with Harry. He'll think we betrayed him," they agreed as they worriedly entered their common room with Snape following them through the portrait hole, noticing in relief that Harry was asleep.

Snape waved his wand over Harry a few times, casting several diagnostic spells, before he sat on the edge of the sofa and carefully gripped the boy's wrist to feel his pulse.

Harry woke up at the touch that felt ice-cold to his burning skin. A violent shiver shook his body as he tried to clear his vision in order to realise what was happening. Suddenly, the Potions professor's silky voice penetrated the fog around his head.

"Why, Mr. Potter, do you believe that we have a Mediwitch at Hogwarts?" Realising that the boy wasn't about to reply, the teacher continued, "You're running a fever of more than forty degrees, which is dangerously high. Did you at least tell your Head of House that you're ill?"

"No," Harry whispered, suddenly feeling very stupid. "She'd only take me to the hospital wing, and I wanted to remain here over Christmas," he added in a hardly audible voice.

"You could also have come to me or let your friends fetch me in order to get a potion," Snape told him in a much softer voice, glancing into Harry's glassy green eyes as the boy looked up in surprise.

"Would you really have given me a potion, sir?" Harry couldn't help blurting out.

"Yes. You should get used to it, considering that we're going to be colleagues next year," Snape replied in a small voice, only for Harry to hear, as he pulled three phials out of his robe pocket. "You're lucky, Mr. Potter. You only caught a very bad case of the stomach flu. When I first heard the twins' explanation, I already feared you had meningitis." He gently steadied Harry's back to help him sit up and pressed the first phial against his lips, followed by the two others.

"Thank you, sir. Um... What was that?" Harry asked, feeling a bit stupid.

"That was a fever reducer, brewed by your friends, as well as the stomach flu potion and a pain relieving potion," Snape drawled. He pointed his wand at Harry's head, sighing. "Your fever came down a bit, but it is still very high. I would prefer to take you with me or take you to the hospital wing, but seeing how stubborn you are, I'll allow you to remain here for the time being. I'll come back in a few hours when you need more of the potions."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said gratefully. "I feel much better now."

"You're welcome," Snape replied curtly, stepping into the fireplace, shouting, "Snape's office."

"Sorry, Harry..."

"...It was an accident..."

"...He came and watched us..."

"... in the Potions classroom," the twins informed Harry.

"It's all right. Thank you so much for brewing the fever reducer for me. And it's better Snape than Pomfrey or McGonagall. At least he doesn't make such a fuss, and his behaviour has really improved after the war," Harry replied, glad that the potions eased his symptoms a lot.

HP

By the time Snape returned to the Gryffindor common room, Harry's potions were just about to wear off completely, and he felt absolutely miserable again.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I can go to the hospital wing. It's much too much hassle for you to come here and give me the potions every time they wear off," he said firmly, causing Snape to shake his head.

"It's not much trouble, and I can understand only too well that you don't want to spend Christmas in the hospital wing, having everyone fuss over you. However, if I don't manage to get your fever down by tomorrow evening, I have to call Madam Pomfrey," Snape replied sternly, before he cast a few diagnostic spells. "Your condition doesn't seem to have improved at all yet. Do you feel any change?"

"My stomach doesn't hurt anymore, but I still have a splitting headache, and I can't move my head," Harry replied in a small voice.

"Your headache is probably caused by the high fever, which is too high for my liking. Take your potions, drink as much as you can, and try to sleep. I'll be back in a few hours. I will set up a direct connection to the fireplace in my office, so you only have to shout my name into the fireplace in case you need me."

"Thank you so much, Professor," Harry replied gratefully, reaching for the teacher's cold hand as the man adjusted a cool cloth to his forehead.

"It's all right. Now rest if you want to have a chance to be able to get up tomorrow," Snape replied softly and left through the fireplace.

HP

Unfortunately, Harry's fever still remained high on Christmas day. The twins brought his presents, which were piled on his bed, down to the common room, and the five Gryffindors opened their presents together when the twins and the two girls returned from Christmas breakfast. Only during the following night, Harry's condition finally slowly improved. Snape, who even came during the night to check on his patient, pondering if he should inform Pomfrey of the student's condition, sighed in relief as he took Harry's temperature in the morning.

"Your fever has come down nicely. You're still running a temperature, and you should stay the day here on the sofa and rest, but if you feel well enough to get up for an hour, you may join us for breakfast in the Great Hall. It's time for you to get away from your banana diet and eat something else."

"Okay," Harry agreed after gulping down his potions and went to take a quick shower, before he accompanied his housemates to the Great Hall.

HP

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here all of a sudden? Or should I ask where you have been during the last four days since the beginning of the holidays?" she queried, throwing Harry a confused look.

"I... was in the common room, Professor. I've been busy," Harry mumbled, feeling the heat creep into his face as he lied.

"Well, since I saw Mr. Potter every four hours for the last two days, maybe I should explain," Snape sneered at his colleague. "Mr. Potter has been very ill and has spent the last few days in bed with the stomach flu and forty degrees of fever."

"He has... what?" McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey gasped simultaneously, glancing from the Potions Master to Harry in shock and disbelief.

"You heard me correctly," Snape said sternly, causing Harry to cringe under the adults' piercing look.

"Why didn't you come to me or ask your friends to fetch me?" Pomfrey asked in a very upset voice.

"Ah, it wasn't so bad," Harry replied, groaning inwardly. '_I should have kept missing meals until the end of the holidays_,' he mused, feeling completely annoyed by the teachers' fussing.

"It was very bad, Mr. Potter was extremely ill, and I'm going to send him to you during the next days for a thorough check-up," Snape explained, throwing the Mediwitch a stern look.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Potter, that I wasn't there for you and didn't even notice that you were so ill. It's really time for me to retire as Head of House."

"It's all right, Professor; it wasn't so bad," Harry replied in a small voice. "If your offer still stands, I'd like to accept the position," he added hesitantly.

"Thank God," McGonagall replied, sighing in obvious relief. "Thank you, Harry, for accepting the position, and thank you, Severus, for looking after Mr. Potter when I was unavailable." Glancing at the two wizards, who were exchanging an amused look, she added, "I'm glad, however, if the situation helped improve your relationship, considering you'll soon be colleagues."

'_It did, and I'm looking forward to becoming a teacher here next year_,' Harry mused as he obediently took a small bite off the toast Professor Snape had just laid on his plate for him.

**The End**

_

* * *

I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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